Coronavirus in Spain: Day 27, 24,926 cases

Thread: The national microbiology centre says Spain is up to 24,926 Coronavirus cases, with 1,326 dead

1. Let's go. The 27th day of this chronicle of the crisis in Spain. The Carlos III website—the national microbiology centre—says Spain is up to 24,926 Coronavirus cases, with 1,326 dead. The Health Ministry page still says 19,980 cases and 1,002 deaths. https://covid19.isciii.es/
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 11:57 am | On Twitter

2. A nurse sends me a picture of her "protective equipment" for last night's shift at a health centre in Granada to fight Coronavirus. Look at the mess. "The helmet is donated, the bib is a nappy, the booties are bin bags", she tells me.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 12:24 pm | On Twitter

3. BREAK: Health Ministry confirms 24,926 cases of Coronavirus in Spain, 1,326 dead, 1,612 in intensive care. Ministry says it's the data from Saturday 21 at 12:00 p.m., Carlos III that it is from last night at 8 p.m. I shall trust the Carlos III and add them to yesterday's count
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 12:33 pm | On Twitter

4. This is the Coronavirus graph for Spain with 24,926 cases and 1,362 deaths, the data from the Carlos III Institute at 8 p.m. last night.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 12:46 pm | On Twitter

6. The chart of daily cases in Spain is a mess. We should probably adjust for previous days. Updating the graph with the data published by Health Ministry today and which according to the Carlos III was already like that at 8 p.m. last night, it looks like this:
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 12:50 pm | On Twitter

7. Spanish regions were publishing random Coronavirus data for three weeks. In theory, the new order for the state of alarm was regions to Health Ministry at 9 p.m. and government would publish the next day. Regions still publishing random stuff. And now the Carlos III reference.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 12:53 pm | On Twitter

8. Whatever the actual progression of the graph has been in recent days, between the random Spanish regional updates and the nonexistent Health Ministry Excel worksheet, the Carlos III says that last night at 8 p.m. we were at 24,926 Coronavirus cases in Spain, with 1,392 dead.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 12:57 pm | On Twitter

16. Castilla la Mancha announces they are up to 1,819 Coronavirus cases and 112 deaths. The data the Health Ministry published a couple of hours ago was 1,423 cases and 84 deaths for that region.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 2:37 pm | On Twitter

17. Look at the language here: First Minister of Madrid, Ayuso, asks the Prime Minister "not to abandon tourists to their fate" in Spain with the Coronavirus decrees and the closure of hotels.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 2:55 pm | On Twitter

18. Some good Murcia data for Coronavirus has arrived, the type governments do not want to make public. By town, healthcare area and age. Headline figures (240 cases, 14 intensive care and one deceased) are those given by the regional government last night. Let's take a look…
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 3:33 pm | On Twitter

19. In Murcia, they do not know the origin of 26% of Coronavirus cases. In other words, there is a community spread—neither imported cases nor contacts of imported cases—of 26%, a quarter of all cases. 46% are imported (from other countries or Spanish regions).
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 3:36 pm | On Twitter

22. To take an example, here is the healthcare area known as "Vega Media del Segura", where there are most cases of Coronavirus (66) here: it includes several neighbourhoods of Murcia city and several nearby towns: Molina, Archena, Alguazas, Lorquí, Las Torres de Cotillas, etc.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 3:55 pm | On Twitter

24. Severe cases of Coronavirus in Murcia, with pneumonia or some other respiratory symptom: there are several cases in the 30-39 age group, both men (24%) and women (13%), although the majority are older than 50.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:06 pm | On Twitter

25. In Murcia, 92 of the 220 Coronavirus patients have some or several previous pathologies: diabetes, cardiovascular, neurological, pulmonary or others.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:11 pm | On Twitter

26. Fernando Simón has been tested for Coronavirus, his substitute announces. Negative result. She announces more than 13,000 people have been admitted to hospital Spain, with a fatality rate at the moment of "around 5%".
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:14 pm | On Twitter

27. One of the technicians at the press conference announces the distribution of 500,000 surgical masks for healthcare workers + 800,000 masks for patients, throughout Spain. Remember that in Madrid alone, Ayuso said she needed 11 MILLION. Andalusia, 250,000 EVERY WEEK.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:19 pm | On Twitter

28. The technician from the Carlos III microbiology centre says they are ready and that they have done the first PCR tests according to guidelines and WHO recommendations. Now they are supporting hospitals with rapid tests, she says.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:24 pm | On Twitter

29. The Carlos III technician states up to 15,000-20,000 PCR Coronavirus tests a day have been done in Spain, and that they want to reach 80,000 a day with the help of robots.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:28 pm | On Twitter

30. What the Carlos III technician has just said about tens of thousands of Coronavirus tests a day in Spain does not correspond at all with what doctors in Spanish hospitals I have spoken to for the past month have told me: restrictive guidelines and a lack of reagents.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:31 pm | On Twitter

31. Health Ministry does not know when the peak of the Coronavirus curve will be reached in Spain, admits Fernando Simón's replacement. There will be different peaks in different Spanish regions.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:39 pm | On Twitter

32. Yesterday in Spain, just 6,000 people used the high-speed AVE train service, 2% of normal capacity, the Secretary General of Transport announces.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:48 pm | On Twitter

33. Chief of the Spanish Defence Staff: every day of Coronavirus lockdown means "thousands" of citizens who do not get infected and "many" fewer dead.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:52 pm | On Twitter

34. The Chief of the Defence Staff keeps on with his military metaphors: "there are no weekends in war", he says.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 4:55 pm | On Twitter

36. Deputy Director of Operations for the National Police says they have arrested more than 250 people in total during Spain's Coronavirus state of alarm and that yesterday they issued 6,000 reports "for serious disobedience".
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 5:03 pm | On Twitter

37. Chief of the Spanish Defence Staff says the Cartagena Naval Hospital is not operational and cannot be immediately operational: the request, which he says he was not aware of, "seems complicated to me".
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 5:07 pm | On Twitter

38. The Prime Minister will make another statement about Coronavirus in Spain tonight at 9:00 p.m.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 5:11 pm | On Twitter

39. And just finishing off the Murcia report, we can see that out of the 240 cases confirmed here, 55 are healthcare professionals.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 5:33 pm | On Twitter

40. On the subject of the 350,000 Coronavirus tests announced by the Carlos III technician just now, six days ago, on March 15, Health Minister Illa said 30,000 had been done in total in Spain.
https://twitter.com/matthewbennett/status/1239287328113405958
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 5:55 pm | On Twitter

41. Has Spain multiplied its Coronavirus testing by a factor of 11.6 in just six days—from 30,000 to 350,000—after nearly a month of complaints from doctors and citizens about a lack of tests, restrictive guidelines and a lack of reagents across the country? It doesn't add up.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 5:58 pm | On Twitter

44. Have been sent a letter from a hospital in Aragon: administrators threatening doctors with €600,000 fines for sharing information about the Coronavirus situation in their own hospital among themselves on WhatsApp. Information clampdown, even among healthcare workers.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 7:29 pm | On Twitter

46. Look at the balconies: pot banging against the government in Murcia at 9 p.m., when Sánchez was scheduled to hold a press conference after a week of Coronavirus confinement in Spain. https://twitter.com/matthewbennett/status/1241455925409480706/video/1
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:11 pm | On Twitter

48. The balcony pot banging is not a minor footnote. As Coronavirus lockdown in Spain starts to drag on, and the bad news gets worse, and news about the government's management of the crisis drips in, the balconies could become a major political problem.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:20 pm | On Twitter

49. Sánchez starts press conference 20 minutes late. He says the world's worst forecasts have been met with the Coronavirus. "These seven days have changed us". He says we now know our neighbours better, from the balconies.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:26 pm | On Twitter

50. Sánchez says we now know Coronavirus better, "our enemy", and that we are going to fight that enemy and win. Like the Chief of the Defence Staff earlier, the Spanish Prime Minister uses war metaphors in his speech.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:27 pm | On Twitter

52. Sánchez says Spain's measures are "the most drastic" in the world following the declaration of the Coronavirus state of alarm.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:31 pm | On Twitter

53. Sánchez warns there are more Coronavirus cases and deaths on the way for Spain: it is a "very critical" moment and "very hard days" are coming for the nation.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:32 pm | On Twitter

55. After more than 10 minutes, Sánchez has not yet announced any new measures.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:35 pm | On Twitter

56. Not a word for now about more masks, protective equipment, ventilators or intensive care beds for Spanish healthcare workers against Coronavirus. PM talking about the use of fuel, transport, energy use and the use that Spaniards have made of the Internet this past week.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:40 pm | On Twitter

57. Sánchez trying to be a bit optimistic about the Coronavirus situation: "this crisis is bringing out the best in us". Has he heard the anti-government pot banging on balconies in Spanish cities tonight?
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:43 pm | On Twitter

58. Sánchez describes a "moving" social response to the Coronavirus emergency. The Prime Minister thanks the cultural people for their efforts in this difficult national time.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:45 pm | On Twitter

59. After 25 minutes, does any reader know what specific message the Prime Minister wishes to convey to us tonight?
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:47 pm | On Twitter

60. Sánchez announces what the Health Ministry announced the other day in the press release about retired and resident doctors.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:49 pm | On Twitter

61. Sánchez repeats what was announced earlier: 640,000-1,000,000 tests and 1,300,000 masks are coming. Remember Ayuso said in her letter that she needed 11 MILLION masks only for Madrid. Andalusia in their letter said they needed 250,000 masks EVERY WEEK.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:51 pm | On Twitter

62. "Now our duty is to maintain unity", says the Prime Minister: "No one in my government will argue with any administration".
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:54 pm | On Twitter

63. The second week of Coronavirus confinement, "then we'll see what we're made of", Sánchez says. Spaniards should resist together but apart to avoid contagion and ease pressure on the healthcare system. "These last seven days have changed us", but warns more change coming.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 9:59 pm | On Twitter

64. Sánchez: "Unfortunately the worst is yet to come, there are still very hard days to come" for Spain against Coronavirus. The wave is going to hit. Which means it hasn't arrived yet, the hardest part is still on the way.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 10:00 pm | On Twitter

65. Sánchez can't explain why there are bigger outbreaks of Coronavirus in Spain and Italy. Kicks the ball into the long grass and tries to make up a reply about many countries around the world.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 10:02 pm | On Twitter

66. BREAK: While Sanchez tries to answer an easy question from El País, asked by the government's chief public relations man, Miguel Ángel Oliver, Catalonia announces 501 new cases of Coronavirus. The total there moves up to 4,704.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 10:04 pm | On Twitter

67. Sánchez reads out the number of Coronavirus tests announced earlier by the technician from the Carlos III laboratory: 350,000 done and now going at the rate of 15,000-20,000 a day in Spain, he says.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 10:06 pm | On Twitter

68. "Sorry if I go on", Sánchez says for the second time. He's now been talking for almost 50 minutes without announcing any specific new measures.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 10:09 pm | On Twitter

69. If the government's communications plan during the Coronavirus lockdown is going to be Sánchez droning on for an hour every Saturday night, without announcing anything new and badly answering filtered out questions for dessert, balconies across Spain will anger soon.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 10:14 pm | On Twitter

70. An hour of Sánchez. Announced NOTHING NEW. More than 25,000 cases of Coronavirus. More than 1,300 dead Spaniards. No new measures, although, as the PM had admitted this evening, the worst is yet to come, the big wave of illness and death has not yet hit the country.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 10:25 pm | On Twitter

72. We'll do a count tomorrow. This morning was a mess between the Health Ministry and the Carlos III laboratory. Carlos III has not updated again tonight. If we add 24,926 to 396 new cases in Castilla la Mancha and 501 in Catalonia, there are at least 25,823 cases in Spain now.
Published: Mar 21, 2020, 11:29 pm | On Twitter

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